Shower heads are known as fixed-installed head showers, side showers or as hand showers at the end of a tube. Numerous different types of jets are known, which can be delivered with such shower heads. Pulsating jets, aerated jets and jets relatively slowly changing their water quantity are known.
The problem of the invention is to provide a shower head, which produces an optically pleasing and pleasant feeling jet pattern.
For solving this problem the invention proposes a shower head having a casing, a jet disk, and at least one jet outlet opening, as well as a drive means, which is constructed for the controlled, continuous modification of the direction of the axis of the outlet opening with respect to the casing. Further developments of the invention form the subject matter of the dependent claims, whose wording, like that of the abstract, are by reference made into content of the description.
Whereas in the known showers the quantity and optionally also the shape of the jet is modified, now for the first time there is also a change to the direction of a water jet delivered by the shower head, namely in a continuous manner. This makes it possible to produce a jet, which in the case of a fixed shower head migrates over the skin of a showering person, e.g. along a closed path. This makes it possible to not only wet a larger area of the body, but also to achieve a massaging effect, but which is different to that in the known massage showers. Thus, the jet does not remain on the same point and instead changes the latter.
According to a further development of the invention the drive means operates during the outflow of water from the jet outlet opening.
It is particularly favourable if the drive means is operated by the flowing water. Consequently no additional devices are required for operating the drive means.
According to a further development of the invention, the direction of the axis of the jet outlet opening is modified in such a way that it is at least partly located on a cone, particularly a circular cone.
According to the invention it is also possible to move the axis in such a way that it is located on a double cone, as shown in FIG. 1.
The invention proposes that the cone apex is in the vicinity of the jet disk, so that compared with known showers there are only slight changes to the space requirement and appearance of the shower.
According to the invention the jet disk has several jet outlet openings, which can be arranged in a random pattern.
If there are several jet outlet openings, according to the invention the drive means can be constructed in such a way that it modifies the direction of the axis of more than one jet outlet opening. It is obviously also possible to modify the direction for some jet outlet openings, whereas other jet outlet openings deliver a jet in constantly the same direction.
According to the invention the directions of the axis of the several jet outlet openings are synchronously modified. This makes the drive simple, because the movement can be derived from a single drive means.
According to the invention the directions of the axes of the several jet outlet openings are modified in equiphase or in-phase manner, which leads to an optically closed jet pattern.
However, it is also possible to modify the directions in non-equiphase or out of phase manner.
According to the invention the movement can be such that the cone axis about which the jet is pivoted is perpendicular to the jet disk.
For modifying the direction of the jet outlet opening axis it is conceivable to allow the entire jet disk to wobble. The invention proposes placing the jet outlet opening in a nozzle element pivotable with respect to the jet disk, so that the change to the direction of the axis can be carried out by pivoting said nozzle element with respect to the jet disk and therefore also with respect to the casing.
According to a further development of the invention the nozzle element is mounted in an opening of the jet disk, particularly the jet outlet end of the nozzle element. The movement of the nozzle element then takes place within the casing of the shower head. If desired, it is naturally also possible for the jet element to project outwards from the jet disk, so that then the nozzle element movement is visible from the outside.
It is also possible to mount the nozzle element on the jet disk with the aid of elastic devices allowing such a wobbling movement of the nozzle element.
According to the invention it is possible for all the nozzle elements to engage in a common disk which is then e.g., eccentrically mounted on a turbine wheel to provide circular movement without the disk itself being rotated.
According to the invention it is possible for all the nozzle elements to engage in a common disk, which is then e.g. moved eccentrically in a circular movement without itself being rotated.
However, it is particularly favourable if each nozzle element engages in a single disk, which is driven in rotary manner about an axis fixed with respect to the shower head.
A turbine can be used for rotary driving purposes.